Harvest Oatmeal
Easy-to-prepare Harvest Oatmeal is a luscious blend of flavors and is loved by those who don’t typically like oatmeal.
It’s cooooollllldddd outside!!!! But I’m not complaining. The frigid weather just gives me an excuse to make this warming and nourishing breakfast.
Cookies for Breakfast
Speaking of nourishing, how about some cookies for breakfast? Or chocolate fudge!? I can’t say it would be the healthiest choice, but, remarkably, some breakfast cereals pack more sugar into your bowl than a serving of cookies or chocolate fudge.
In fact, breakfast cereal can be one of the highest – and sneakiest – sources of sugar in your day. Most granola on the grocery store shelves contains as much sugar in one bowl as a Twinkie! A serving of Quaker Honey Nut Oats will load you up with more sugar than a Butterfinger bar.
An Easier Way to Lose Weight
If you want to lose weight, what you need to do is eat a good breakfast. Well, ok, a few other strategies in your game plan may help as well, but research has shown that people who eat breakfast every day enjoy easier weight loss and have more physical and mental energy throughout the day than those who don’t eat breakfast.
So, by including this simple, painless (compare it to working out for 3 hours) habit in your day, you may shed some extra pounds and feel better too!
The Whole-Grain Goodness of Harvest Oatmeal
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Not only have oats been shown to reduce cholesterol, help control blood glucose and insulin levels, reduce asthma risk in children, and boost the immune system, oats also have a fiber compound called beta-glucan which encourages your body to release hunger-suppressing hormones.
And dried apricots, fresh apples, and dried figs give this Harvest Oatmeal a flavorful sweetness without added sugar.
Healthy, Sugar-Free Breakfast
Harvest Oatmeal provides you with a healthy, slimming, and delicious sugar-free breakfast. Looking for some more healthy breakfast ideas? Give these yummy breakfasts a try.
Harvest Oatmeal
Ingredients
- 2 3/4 cups almond milk
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup quick-cooking (not instant) oats - gluten-free if desired
- 1 medium apple - (about 1 1/3 cup diced apple)
- 7 dried apricots - (or you can use sulfur-free dried apricots)
- 5 dried Turkish figs
- 1/4 cup chopped raw walnuts
- 2 tablespoons honey - or pure maple syrup – optional
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- Place milk and salt in a medium saucepan and begin heating over medium-high heat.
- Stir in oats and cover. When oats come to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, dice half of the apple into very small pieces. After oats have cooked for 15 minutes, stir diced apple into oats. (Save remaining half for fresh slices over cereal.) Replace cover.
- Cut apricots and figs into small pieces and stir into oatmeal. Replace cover. (I cut the apricots into 4 pieces and the figs into 6 pieces.)
- Simmer, covered, for an additional 15 minutes, stirring often to prevent oats from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
- When oatmeal is done, stir in walnuts, date sugar or chopped dates, and vanilla. Top with fresh apple slices.Serve hot.
Notes
>> One quick request: if you like this recipe, please leave a rating and a comment. Ratings help more people find these healthy recipes!
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These bowls look so tasty and fresh! I love dried apricots.
Pinning!
Thanks Abbie. We love it!
My husband is not crazy about oatmeal but we love this dish!!! This is my way to get him to love oatmeal in the morning. Thanks for a delicious recipe!
That’s so good to hear, Margaret! My pleasure 🙂
Cool, this is an extremely healthy food choice for everyone.
Fresh fruit with oatmeal. Wow delicious! 🙂
How much serving size in your recipe? Thanks
Will make the oatmeal soon.
Hi Ann,
This recipe makes about 3 cups of cooked cereal.
Hope that helps.
Jennifer
Thank you, so the amount that i should cook for 1 serving on your recipe needs to divide by 3? I would like to lose weight but not sure the appropriate quantity.
Yes, you could do that.
As a weight loss consultant, I recommend that my clients not restrict serving sizes, but rather encourage them to eat (foods that are conducive to weight loss) until satisfied. This helps prevent cravings, low blood sugar, and low serotonin levels (which is associated with moodiness, irritability, anxiety, lack of concentration, chronic fatigue syndrome, cravings, binge eating, and weight gain.) and still provides weight loss.
You can read a little more about it in my FAQ if you are interested.
Best wishes to you,
Jennifer
Why quick oats? Why not rolled oats?
Hi Dusty,
Quick-cooking oats are rolled oats that are in smaller pieces. Nutritionally, they are just as good as regular rolled oats.
Because of their smaller size, quick-cooking oats take less time to cook that do regular rolled oats (which is why I chose to use them in this recipe).
Contrary to what is printed on the packages of oats, these grains actually take longer to fully cook than 1 to 5 minutes. And research shows that insufficiently-cooked grains cannot be properly digested by the body and this can lead to a number of health problems (such as issues with adrenals and the thyroid).
Because of this research, I always recommend that people cook their grains sufficiently and avoid eating them uncooked.
I hope this helps.
Jennifer